16th Guards Rifle Division

16th Guards Rifle Division
Major General Mikhail Pronin
Founded	February 16, 1942 (1942-02-16)
Disbanded	September 1, 1960 (1960-09-01)
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army  Soviet Army (after 1946)
Type	Division
Role	Infantry
Engagements	World War II Toropets–Kholm Offensive Battles of Rzhev First Rzhev–Sychyovka Offensive Rzhev–Vyazma Offensive Operation Kutuzov Battle of Smolensk Battle of Nevel Vitebsk–Bogushevsk Offensive Operation Bagration Vitebsk–Orsha Offensive Minsk Offensive Vilnius-Kaunas Offensive Goldap–Gumbinnen Operation Vistula–Oder Offensive East Prussian Offensive Battle of Königsberg Samland Offensive
Decorations	Order of Lenin Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov
Battle honours	Karachev
Commanders
Notable commanders	German Fyodorovich Tarasov Sergei Alekseevich Knyazkov Pyotr Grigoryevich Shafranov Efim Vasilevich Ryzhikov Mikhail Andreevich Pronin

The 16th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in February 1942, based on the 1st formation of the 249th Rifle Division, and served in that role until well after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It was in Kalinin Front when it was redesignated and remained in the northern half of the front throughout the war. In the summer it was assigned to Western Front's 30th Army to the north of the Rzhev salient and took part in the stubborn and costly struggle for the village of Polunino just east of that town in August. It returned to the fighting in March 1943 in the followup to the German evacuation of the salient, then was reassigned to the new 11th Guards Army, where it would remain for the duration of the war. During the summer offensive against the German-held salient around Oryol it assisted in the liberation of Karachev and received its name as an honorific. By December, after fighting through western Russia north of Smolensk the division was in 1st Baltic Front, attacking south towards Gorodok and winning the Order of the Red Banner in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to seize Vitebsk. By the start of the offensive against Army Group Center in the summer of 1944 the 16th Guards had been redeployed with its Army to the south of Vitebsk as part of 3rd Belorussian Front, where it would remain for the duration. Driving westward during Operation Bagration the division helped to liberate the key city of Orsha and then drove on towards Minsk. With its Army it advanced through Lithuania to the border with East Prussia, being further decorated with the Order of Suvorov for its crossing of the Neman River. As part of the East Prussian Offensive the 16th Guards entered that heavily-fortified region and helped gradually break the German resistance there, particularly at Insterburg and Königsberg, ending the fighting at Pillau. The 16th Guards remained in the Kaliningrad Oblast well after the war until finally disbanded in September 1960.